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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23205820">Fire inside</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/myka1231/pseuds/myka1231'>myka1231</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe-Root, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 08:41:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,158</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23205820</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/myka1231/pseuds/myka1231</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Umino Iruka had been recently orphaned when he was taken to Danzo’s household, Root as it was called, to be trained in ninjutsu. Training hard and without rest was his way of surviving to see another day, but he knew that sooner or later someone would notice the fire still boiling his blood, the restless way his soul fought to keep going in the middle of the death and violence that was inflicted on them, meant to kill everyone’s spirit in the end.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>113</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Iruka's Birthday Shiritori 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Fire inside</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23074885">Experience Is the Second Best Teacher</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/flailinginlove/pseuds/flailinginlove">flailinginlove</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A fic written for Iruka's Birthday Shiritori. It's the second fic for Team 2, starting with the word "kiss". </p><p>Thanks to flailinginlove for the beta read. Any remaining mistakes are on me.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kissing was forbidden. It wasn’t in their code, it was written between the lines because no one had the courage -or the inclination- to ask out loud such a silly question when more pressing matters took precedence in their organization.</p><p>They were raised since childhood to be assassins, tools of destruction, weapons against any enemy that came their way.</p><p>Umino Iruka had been recently orphaned when he was taken to Danzo’s household, Root as it was called, to be trained in ninjutsu. Training hard and without rest was his way of surviving to see another day, but he knew that sooner or later someone would notice the fire still boiling his blood, the restless way his soul fought to keep going in the middle of the death and violence that was inflicted on them, meant to kill everyone’s spirit in the end. But Iruka kept going, never losing his spark, just hiding it from the people who wanted to extinguish it for their purposes.</p><p>Iruka couldn’t possibly have known that all it would take was a kiss to change the course of his life.</p><p>Kakashi arrived at Root one fine morning five years after the orphaned boy had. Iruka was fourteen years old and the new boy couldn’t be too much older. So it was outrageous that Kakashi became his superior upon their first meeting when Iruka had trained hard every day and knew his way around every soldier and servant in the house. However, it took only one mission to get rid of that resentment.</p><p>They were ordered to stop the trade between Water Country and a village on the coast of Fire Country by attacking the village’s port, eliminating every man, woman, and child who crossed their path.</p><p>Kakashi carried out his orders as a soldier should, with frightening coldness and efficiency. Meanwhile, Iruka raged inside. It became so bad that he couldn’t strike out at a village boy who stupidly -bravely- tried to fight for the life of his family with agony clear in his eyes. For this failure, Iruka was nearly killed. But Kakashi was there to save him, killing the boy -younger than Iruka- as if it were not a big deal.</p><p>When they went back to Danzo’s, Iruka was sure it was his end. Kakashi would report him. He would be deemed unworthy and thrown out on the streets if he was lucky. Instead, he was highly rewarded for the hard mission they had completed. Kakashi had kept Iruka’s fire a secret and that changed his view of the older boy. Maybe having him on his side was a good idea. Maybe this fire had a reason to be and he could find out with Kakashi’s help how to wield it. So he approached Kakashi to thank him and before anyone knew it, they were training side by side, eating with each other and even sleeping on the same mats. Iruka could have sworn that he was improving under Kakashi’s watchful eye and expert guidance. They were inseparable and for the first time in a very long while, they felt at home, even at Root headquarters.</p><p>It was a few months later, after an awful mission on the back of another awful mission, that Iruka dared to ask in a small voice, “Have you ever thought about how life could be away from Danzo?”</p><p>“That’s treason,” was the steeled and short retort to his hopeful question.</p><p>Iruka knew by then that Kakashi wouldn’t report him for his treasonous thought, but he had to fight to not let that answer take away his carefully stoked fire. After the time they had spent together, Iruka had thought that when he escaped, Kakashi would be at his side.</p><p>The silence was oppressive at that moment and when it had stretched far longer than normal, Kakashi said under his breath, “But I would want to go with you wherever you went.”</p><p>Just like that, a new future opened ahead of them and plans began to be formed in the following weeks. It was as if speaking the words had made time move faster, so they had to keep pace to avoid being caught, but still leave nothing to chance. Iruka and Kakashi decided that they would run during the next mission they were given together, as their two-man team was a working squad at that point.</p><p>In the meantime, Iruka could hardly contain his brightly burning spirit, but he had learned the art of deceit in his time under the watch of Root, the organization that had given him shelter for a very steep price. He kept acting like nothing was wrong until the morning they were given their last mission.</p><p>It was the assassination of an important advisor in the Daimyo’s entourage and they had to leave by nightfall. The completion of the mission plus travel time was estimated at two weeks, enough time to get a good head start and lose any pursuit if they were careful. Luckily for them, Kakashi was a genius and their plans were flawless.</p><p>They were brimming with anxious energy, even if Kakashi was better at hiding it. Iruka was just so damn happy he could excuse the annoying skill difference this time around. He couldn’t help but voice his one thought upon leaving the house.</p><p>“This is it,” and if his voice shook a little, it was only from excitement and not fear of what might come.</p><p>“Ma. Iruka, are you getting cold feet?”</p><p>Kakashi always knew what to say to make Iruka burn hotter than the sun.</p><p>“I’ll show you cold feet!” With a hard pull at Kakashi’s vest, Iruka was kissing him over his ever-present mask until Kakashi was able to shove it out of the way.</p><p>Iruka’s first kiss tasted like love, freedom, and determination, but was over the moment Danzo’s voice sounded from behind them.</p><p>“So what was that all about? Lovers running away for a happily ever after?” The contempt in the man’s voice rang clear in the twilight air.</p><p>Iruka stood frozen in his spot, but Kakashi acted fast and dragged Iruka into a running escape that lasted days without a break. They were chased by their ex-comrades for most of the way and fought out of desperation more than skill, but they finally stopped outside a village away from Danzo’s resources and his soldiers, but it wouldn’t be long until his shadow managed to spread there as well. In any case, outrunning him was not an option, Kakashi would need a safe place to plan and Iruka would give him exactly that. It didn’t matter if they were marked as missing-nins and chased after for the rest of their lives, Iruka had enough fire to keep them going even if Kakashi’s burnt itself down. Iruka would make sure their love was worth it and that wherever they went, as long as they were in each other’s arms, it would be home.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><div class="children module" id="children">
  <b class="heading">Works inspired by this one:</b>
  <ul>
    <li>
        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23317672">Of Locks and Keys</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/CappuccettoRosso/pseuds/CappuccettoRosso">CappuccettoRosso</a>
    </li>
  </ul>
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